Global stocks fall nearly 6% in worst trading week of two years on fears of higher interest rates

Global stocks plummeted nearly 6 per cent on aggregate last week as fears of a quicker pace of US Federal Reserve rate tightening was exacerbated by quant trading strategies and exchange traded funds that track the volatility index.

Stocks in the UAE were not as badly hit by the wave of panic selling because equity valuations were not as elevated as those in the developed world or other emerging markets with the Dubai Financial Market General Index dropping just 2.5 per cent last week. The MSCI All World Index, a gauge of developed world and emerging market stocks, fell 5.75 per cent last week.

"Any significant sell-off in risk assets in the US and rest of the world will no doubt have a negative impact on investor sentiment in the region, cause negative price moves in the short term and could result in some foreign outflows in case we see large redemptions from emerging market ETFs," said Sachin Mohindra, a portfolio manager at Invest AD, an Abu Dhabi–based asset managers.

"Valuations are not stretched at an absolute level and the underperformance relative to other major markets in 2017 has resulted in attractive relative valuations as well. Dividend yields across a number of regional stocks are attractive and should provide a floor to stock prices in the near term," said Mr Mohindra.

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European stocks head for five-month low as global selloff continues

World's richest see $100bn in net worth wiped out as stocks fall

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Meanwhile, the MSCI Emerging Market, which has a heavy concentration of Chinese stocks, slipped 7.15 per cent. Commodities dropped, with the Brent crude falling 8.4 per cent to close the week at $62.79 a barrel, as the US dollar firmed 1.4 per cent against a basket of currencies. The drop in global equities was the worst weekly sell off in two years.

The turmoil in global markets was sparked by a strong US labour report on February 2 which investors took to mean that the US Federal Reserve might raise interest rates at a faster pace in 2018, bringing the longest era of cheap money in the country's history - that's helped prop up global asset prices - to a close.

While the S&P 500, the benchmark measure of US stocks, closed the week down 5.1 per cent, it did stage a late session rally on Friday that saw the index close 1.4 per cent higher.

A MINECRAFT MOVIE

Director: Jared Hess

Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa

Rating: 3/5

How green is the expo nursery?

Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery

An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo

Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery

Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape

The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides

All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality

Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country

Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow

Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site

Green waste is recycled as compost

Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs

Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers

About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer

Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.

Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months

Tips for job-seekers

Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
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If%20you%20go

%3Cp%3E%0DThere%20are%20regular%20flights%20from%20Dubai%20to%20Addis%20Ababa%20with%20Ethiopian%20Airlines%20with%20return%20fares%20from%20Dh1%2C700.%20Nashulai%20Journeys%20offers%20tailormade%20and%20ready%20made%20trips%20in%20Africa%20while%20Tesfa%20Tours%20has%20a%20number%20of%20different%20community%20trekking%20tours%20throughout%20northern%20Ethiopia.%20%20The%20Ben%20Abeba%20Lodge%20has%20rooms%20from%20Dh228%2C%20and%20champions%20a%20programme%20of%20re-forestation%20in%20the%20surrounding%20area.%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A